Author: cumberlandgeolsoc

22nd February 2017

Dr Joel Gill, Project Development Scientist with the British Geological Survey and Founder and Director of Geology for Global Development.

He has a background in engineering and geology and worked in Tanzania, India and Guatemala, advising on water resources, geology and geo-education.

His talk was based on the GfGD principles of trying to ‘mobilise and equip the geological community to prevent and relieve poverty, in all its forms everywhere’. This was illustrated by reference to 3 UN initiatives. (See www.gfgd.org for more details).

The international framework for tackling this global challenge crystallised in 2015 with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals:- a set of 17 goals with 169 targets, aiming to eradicate poverty and unsustainable consumption, facilitate growth and social development, etc.within a 15 year time frame.

Here, Geological Sciences with their knowledge of Earth Materials, Resources and Management are essential to, for instance, effective clean water systems and energy supply and management (www.un.org has more detail).

There has been some progress – e.g. extreme poverty has fallen by 50%; access to an improved source of drinking water has increased from 76% in 1990 to 91% of the global population in 2015.However, in sub Saharan Africa sanitation facilities and access to clean water are still poor. An example was given in Tanzania of little improvement over 15 years to water access. 35-50% of water projects failed due to poor siting of wells, lack of understanding of the culture, and the training needed for water management.

In March 2015, at a UN world conference, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction was adopted. It has 7 targets, including increasing access to Multi-Hazard Warning systems, and 4 priorities e.g., Risk Resilience (see Sendai website for more details). An example was given of Multi-Hazard Research in Guatemala and the role Geoscientists can play e.g. integrating research into the impacts of landslides, flooding and ground subsidence.

Finally, the 2015 Paris Accord on Climate Change was briefly mentioned and the role geoscientists can play researching new minerals needed for the new generation of solar panels to meet alternative/renewable energy targets.

Dr Gill concluded by referring to work with Professor Ian Stewart. This had indicated more of a need for geoscience courses to promote the ‘hard’, ‘soft’ and interdisciplinary skills needed to connect effectively with global humanitarian issues.

The meeting ended with a request for Dr Gill to identify a project to which CGS could contribute.

A paper by Dr. Gill is due to be published in Spring 2017 in the IUGS journal

Editions (link on IUGS website)

Cumberland Geological Society Presents –
From the Winter Lecture Events Programme:

Wednesday 22nd March 2017

Relations on the Celtic Fringe

Starts: 19:30

Location: Friends’ Meeting House, Kirkgate, Cockermouth, CA14 9PH
Description:

AGM & President’s talk: Relations on the Celtic Fringe

Events are open to members and non-members. This event is free for members and non-members who wish to ‘try out’ the society.

Of cannonballs and pencils: Borrowdale graphite.

A packed Tullie House lecture theatre got the full story of the Seathwaite graphite mine, from David Millward of the British Geological Survey, in a very clear and well structured account. Many images and facts from the presentation will linger long in the mind including [1] the impressive cavity left by the main pipe-shaped orebody, [2] the size of the graphite nodule in the Tullie House collection, [3] that the moderate temperature volcanic hydrothermal system was capable of producing graphite as highly crystalline and of the same high quality as found in ultra-metamorphic regions, [4] the wide array of modern high tech kit that was used in the study, [5] the intriguing history of exploitation and ancillary socio-economic developments, [6] the range of ancient and modern uses of graphite, [7] the mine’s special characteristics in that it is one of only two volcanic-hosted graphite deposits and it was the first place where colloform graphite was identified, [8] the challenge of keeping CO2 in the magma to form such a deposit, [9] the clear biogenic source of the carbon very likely derived through assimilation of Skiddaw Group material into the magma, a process also responsible for the globally-rare garnet phenocrysts in the BVG, [10] the fundamental nature of the Burtness Comb Fault that probably played a role in channelling magmas to the site of mineralisation, [11] the bureaucratic complexities involved in working on an Scheduled Ancient Monument and the five year delay to the project when the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak coincided with the planned start, and [12] the desirability of having caving skills to do geology underground in old workings.

Perhaps more for the ore deposit aficionados were aspects like [1] the Raman spectrometry to determine the degree of crystallinity of the graphite, [2] the Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry to study isotopes in micrometre-sized areas of the separate graphite forms, [3] the array of microscopy techniques employed down to Scanning Electron Microscope resolutions, [4] the extensive use of fluid inclusion data to characterise the nature of the fluid and how it evolved during the mineralisation process, [5] the structural control at fault/fault intersections and the catastrophic disturbance of fluid conditions at fault rupture events, [6] the extent of fluid-rock interaction and the crucial role this process played in forming the deposit as the hydration of country-rock minerals led to carbon supersaturation in the fluid driving massive graphite precipitation, [7] by combining all the data, the deposit clearly is shown to be epigenetic and must have formed after the Birker Fell Formation but whilst the Borrowdale volcanics were still evolving, and [8] the remarkable sequence of events in the depositional model and the number of critical steps required to create such a special deposit. All of these results come from a highly fruitful collaboration with a group of Spanish researchers.

The final thought put to the group was that if, industrially, we could replicate the natural process at Seathwaite we could produce synthetic graphite with much greater energy efficiency than happens at the moment for this critical raw material. Audrey Brown proposed the vote of thanks supported by great acclaim from the audience.

CAB

Cumberland Geological Society Presents –
From the Winter Lecture Events Programme:

Wednesday 22nd February 2017

Geology and International Development: Interdisciplinary Work across Three Continents

Starts: 19:30

Location: Friends’ Meeting House, Kirkgate, Cockermouth, CA14 9PH
Description:

Joel Gill: Geology and International Development: Interdisciplinary Work across Three Continents – The role of geology in fighting global poverty and supporting sustainable development.

Events are open to members and non-members. This event is free for members and non-members who wish to ‘try out’ the society.

Cumberland Geological Society Presents –
From the Winter Lecture Events Programme:

Wednesday 25th January 2017

Graphite in Borrowdale

Starts: 19:30

Location: Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery, Castle Street, Carlisle CA3 8TP
Description: Dr. Dave Millwood: Graphite in Borrowdale

Events are open to members and non-members. This event is free for members and non-members who wish to ‘try out’ the society.